


We Are More Than Words

by skatingonthinice



Series: The Story of the Peppermint Girl [2]
Category: Tintenwelt-Trilogie | Inkheart Trilogy - Cornelia Funke
Genre: Begins pre inkheart, Disabled Character, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Multi, References to Depression, Someone give this woman a break, as they should - Freeform, everybody loves resa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22232581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skatingonthinice/pseuds/skatingonthinice
Summary: Nora served Capricorn and his men in the Inkworld, but things change when the heinous leader disappears one day. Nora lives on, still trapped in the fire- raiser's village where the order of command starts to break. She loses the hope she had once had for a new life when a voice transports her to another world. Yet again she meets Capricorn and Basta, but there are still good things to come.During a reading session a woman appears. She is beautiful, kind and knows how to read. Nora discovers that she is capable of feeling things she haven't before, but she is not alone in her adoration.
Relationships: Resa Folchart/Staubfinger | Dustfinger, Resa/OC
Series: The Story of the Peppermint Girl [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600327
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will include some very heavy scenes as Darius reads out the servant women.  
> Please mind the tags to not expose yourself to anything potentially triggering. If you want anything tagged differently just let me know as I was a bit unsure. Thanks!

Life was bad. There was no point in hiding it- life was really bad. Nora had almost stopped caring. She had almost been free and for a while she had thought that liberty was at hand. Capricorn had vanished into thin air one particularly cold winter day. He had been there one moment, overseeing Mortola's instructing over the working girls and the next moment not. Basta had gone too.

In the chaos that followed she had tried to take advantage of the situation. A few of the other girls exchanged quick glances and left the courtyard in various directions. They can't catch all of us, that was the idea. That turned out to be true.

Nora followed Elisa and two others to the nearest gate where all the men had left to see what the shouting at the castle was about. They had all gotten to the other side of the large wooden door when a strong arm caught Nora from behind and pulled her back. She stumbled and fell into the owner of the arm, Cockerell.

"Oh, no, you don't!" he said and kept her down. Nora did not manage to get free, but she did manage to yell a goodbye to her friends. They were soon gone and order was swiftly put into place. Cockerell had the gate closed. Nora felt like she had just passed her only chance at ever having a life. She no longer fought back and when Cockerell told her to get to the woman's quarters she did. 

How bleak the world felt. She didn't even feel any glee for having lost the awful fire-raiserlord, no. She felt happy for her friends and prayed they had gotten to safety, but that was it. Guess the fire- raisers finally had choked of her joy. 

Six years went by. They were odd, even for a woman familiar with fairies and glass people. 

The first year went by like Capricorn was around the corner and able to return any time. But slowly it dawned on even his most loyal henchmen that there was not going to be any return and that they were on their own. Right after that some of them tried to overthrow the castle. Enough of the loyalist still insisted on supporting their imaginary leader and the power stayed where it was. 

Still, the fear that Capricorn had carved into people's hearts grew softer as the years went by and rumors begun to spread that there was nobody giving proper orders. Even if that was only a half truth (Mortola for example certainly did her share of bossing around) much less valuables and pricey materials were freely given out of fear, and so the state of the group fell into disorder.

Around this time Fulvio got a habit of following her around and seeing as the group was only about a quarter of the size it used to be he used this as an excuse to make sure she didn't run away. He stood about as a bigger and clumsier version of Basta, leaning onto everything he could and wiping the sweat of his brows. But gods be good, even he disappeared one morning. Just as he was leaning nearer to "help her with some dirt on her nose" he dissolved like one of Mortola's nasty powders when poured into liquid. 

Right after that more of them went. Nora begun to feel things again, maybe hope that some higher power was feeling pity for her, when she too felt the earth grow distant under her feet and the air change. Then she was there, in that great hall with that familiar tone. The face of scared stocky man was right besides hers and he seemed ready to faint. He didn't look like the men that had ogled her and threatened her all these years and as such she immediately categorized him as dangerous as a butterfly. 

But a clapping came and the voice that followed made her veins turn to ice. She turned her head and there he was- as alive as ever. Capricorn was clapping, just in that revolting manner he did everything. The scared man hunched evermore for every clap as if it was a slap to his face.

"Good one, you bothersome fool. Looks like you finally managed to get one right!"

Nora felt her dignity dropping to the floor as Basta caught her gaze swiping over the hall. He grinned as widely as his mouth would allow. Whichever magic had once spared Nora did not any longer. Fulvio was annoying, but he did not carry knives around in the same way Basta did and Basta had six years of intimidating to catch up on. Nora stumbled out of fear for what was happening. 

She unwillingly got caught in the arms of the scared man and even though he had helped her he looked like he hated himself for it, like she was the dangerous one in this room. She couldn't make sense of it and tried to straighten herself and failed. 

"No, no. You really are useless. Leave his supper out for the dogs tonight," Capricorn said.

Nora stumbled in an attempt to walk away. Her left foot wouldn't respond. It felt like it didn't belong to her and when she hit the side of her leg in fear she couldn't feel the impact. 

Now absolutely terrified she hit herself again and again, forgetting that she was being watched. She heard the fist hit the flesh beneath her dress but the leg might as well have been someone else's. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and when she began to scream some far off voice commanded that someone shut her up. She felt someone tug violently at her and then an even more violent pull as one of the men dragged her to the side of the hall. Someone, perhaps the same person and perhaps someone else, kicked her. 

Silently she cried, careful to muffle her own sobbing. That was the start of what she later would learn was a new world. 

It seemed no better to her than her own world had. There were men in black jackets that ruled over her. Capricorn ruled over them once again. Mortola was somehow there thanks to that insidious magic the weakly man had- Darius he was apparently called. For every week more spells were performed and although Nora was careful to run errands when she saw Darius walk to the church (they had no castle this time) she could not avoid seeing its results later on.

The women's quarters were busier by the week. Nora tried not to look at them, not to look at anyone actually, but it was terribly hard not to hear the cries at night. There were many like her, all affected by that unnatural force. Twisted faces, lacking limbs, blind eyes and deaf ears. 

Nora felt so much sorrow for them all. She never spoke to any of them in fear that she might love them one day and that the world would change again and her loved ones whisked away. Elisa and the others had never been read out. Nora doubted she would ever see them again.

Instead she focused on her work and learning to care for her body. With time she managed to walk upright instead of by cane. Mortola could not give her certain tasks, especially the ones requiring walking in stairs. So many stairs and slopes Nora had never noticed before but now had too. 

There were some highlights though, simple as they might sound. For once this world had a magic called eltricity or something like that. As far as Nora could understand it was made of something really vigorous and hard to explain. The most important thing was that it enabled them to use machines to ease the work load. Some of the machines could cast light even at night and some could even sew.

One late evening Nora had been ordered to mend some torn jackets by the magic light and she could not get it working. Fulvio was passing by and saw her struggling, yet he just smirked and left her to her own devices. The rest of the girls were gone off to other work or off to their beds, so Nora had no one to ask for help.

Mortola will give me some fine punishment if I give up, Nora bitterly thought and gave the machine a proper smack with her hand even though she didn't necessarily think it would solve anything. 

Suddenly she felt someone gently touching her side and she jumped. 

It wasn't Fulvio this time. It wasn't Basta nor any other blackjacket at all. It was a woman and she had to be the most kind looking and most radiant woman Nora had ever seen. There was a sense of genuine kindness in her deep blue eyes and she was making gestures as if to say she hadn't intended to scare Nora. 

Nora didn't mind. The woman smiled and leaned over. For a moment Nora felt her heart beat really fast, but then she realized the woman had connected the attached white rope of the machine to the wall. Now she felt embarrassed.

"I always forget that part," she admitted with a flush. The woman laughed and it seemed to fill the air. It had been a while since Nora had heard such a joyful laugh, she had almost forgotten what it sounded like. 

The woman left smiling after having waved a gentle good- bye. Not being able to stop herself, Nora looked out the corridor to see the beauty disappear behind a corner. But there was someone else in the corridor as well. The wonder Nora had felt just moments ago turned to ash, grey and dull. 

Basta stood leaned against the wall. He was staring right at her, one dark eyebrow raised. In his fingers there was a knife, one she immediately recognized as his favourite. He flung it into the air as casually as children did with pebbles and caught it without even looking. There was a darkness in his eyes and Nora understood the message. She was not going to let him know the unease she felt though. 

"You are better off going after someone on your own level. Mortola perhaps," she said. 

Basta stopped moving the knife and instead just looked at her. For a second she believed he was going for revenge for rejecting him, but then he threw the knife up again. 

"I would have taught you some manners if it weren't for the fact that I just sharpened this babe," he said, meaning the blade. 

Nora thought that would be the end of it and was turning to go back to her work when she heard him speak again. 

"She's mute, that one. You won't get her to say a word."

Nora crossed her arms over her chest. "And how do you know that?"

Basta laughed. "Darius read her out some days ago. Capricorn liked her and he liked her even more when we saw that the wizard had fucked up her tongue. Her name is Resa."

Resa... It was a beautiful name. How fitting. 

"How would you know her name? You just said she can't talk," Nora injected.

Basta was smiling now, a huge wide grin that reminded of a predator opening its mouth to scare a prey. His breath filled the space between them with a stench of concentrated peppermint. 

"Oh, haven't you heard darling? She knows the letters. Tried to take the damned book out of the wizard's hands. Reminds you of someone?"

After seeing her shocked face Basta seemed to have gotten what he wanted and with an ugly smile he left her alone with her thoughts. 


	2. Chapter 2

It should not be possible. It should not. Nora watched the woman talking to another servant in the yard. Resa.

She was talking with her hands, gesturing wildly. Her skin was tanned from former summers and her hair shone like it was lit with sunshine. Her enthusiasm was misplaced yet Nora couldn't help admiring her for her unbreakable spirit. Even just watching her made Nora feel alive. She hadn't felt alive in so many years. How could it be that a glimmer of light could grace their damned lives this way?

In fact, Resa accustomed to the new life in the village as if she had done it before. None of the changes seemed to really intimidate her, so much so that Mortola at first took a liking to her and granted her a rare apprenticeship in the art of poison. The Magpie wasn't fond of sharing her secrets, still it was obvious that she was getting old and Capricorn would still be in need of a poisoner after she was gone.

That hope was short lived, though, because it was soon discovered that Resa had stolen certain greenery that when digested was poisonous when digesten. That was the way the Magpie had used it. Resa, however, had somehow known that when steamed it could be used on infected wounds that the blackjackets were prone too when they got themselves in trouble. If it was applied for a day it could heal and thus save a man's life, his arm or his leg.

Clever girl, Mortola had said upon discovering this, before doubling Resa's duties for a moon's turn. She would have done considerably worse, Nora knew, if it weren't that the master of them all often called for Resa. Maybe the hag never trusted Resa again or perhaps she was jealous of the attention Capricorn gave her- either way Resa stayed under a close watch of Mortola. 

Some time passed by when Nora would only catch glimpses of the woman, sadly never having any excuse to talk to her. They worked at different places and at different times. Others may have given up, but Nora was beginning to recover. She was starting to feel like the spiritual grime of the Blackjacket regime was peeling off her layer by layer, and she was noticing things now. 

For instance, she learned by eaves dropping that Fulvio often had duties close by Mortola and wherever Mortola was, Resa was usually too. This was both delightful and annoying, because Nora could use Fulvio to get closer to Resa, but then she actually had to pretend she liked him. Which honestly disgusted her. Even so the pull towards the new servant woman was stronger. The need to see her, to interact with her filled Nora at once with both delight and fear. No man had ever made her this excited, and certainly not a fire-raiser.

Today was cold. Winter was just around the corner and that was beginning to show. The church was being heated up by giant oil barrels filled with burning wood and the living quarters had eclectic instruments that gave off heat. The magic could apparently not improve the coldness outside.

Nora had finished her duties for the time being. Now she was accompanying Fulvio while he helped Mortola move some sacks of highly suspicious content inside to the "potato cellar."

When Mortola saw that Nora was by Fulvio's side, she quinted her mean eyes. "Thought you had a knack for Basta;" she said.

The unwanted comment made Nora's blood boil, turning her ears and forehead a bright red. "No," she protested, to no avail- the hag just laughed at her discomfort. 

Nora felt Fulvio place a warm arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. His grip was secure and felt suffocating.

"Basta is a dimwit. Of course she didn't want anything to do with him." He went on, babbling about the foolishness of his fellow workman, but his words grew distant. There was a motion in the cellar and the glimpse of something bright yellow. 

Nora felt her heart beat faster. 

There she was. Resa was securing the sacks onto some shelves with ropes. Her dress was tight around her arms, allowing anybody to see the muscles work. The red dress fabric complimented her face too, which was flushed from the work act. There was a shine to her skin that seemed otherwordly. It became impossible to look away.

Resa turned, saw them and smiled. Suddenly Nora had forgotten how humans acted. She opened her mouth and closed it again, dumbfounded. Resa didn't seem to notice her flustered bad mannerism, just waved a friendly hello. It was a custom for the servant women to greet each other, yet Mortola did not like companionship.

She spun around in an agile fashion unsuitable for her bad back and old age. 

"What are you doing, waveing about? Haven't I given you work to do?" she growled. Resa was not taken aback by this, just stared blankly at the hag, nodded to Nora and went silently back to the shelf work. 

Fulvio lauged. 

"Isn't that the one Darius read out earlier? The one that got no voice?"

The Magpie scoffed, motioning to Nora that there were more sacks to carry. She bowed her head in respect and went back to the cart where all the sacks were loaded. Behind her she could hear Fulvio lower his voice.

"Is that why she is his new favourite?"

For that he got a flat blow from Mortola's hand. 

"Mind your business!" 

When Nora came back carrying two sacks Fulvio was looking at the ground, not saying a word. At least that meant he made no attempts to romance her that afternoon, nevertheless she couldn't help feeling sorry for him. In addition to that, she needed something from him. 

She traded her supper for a small cake piece from a wench in the kitchen and went to his house. He was puzzled by the visit, yet still opened his door. Inside a single candle light was flickering. Men like Fulvio were not important enough to have magical lights. 

"Here," Nora said and handed over the cake piece. Fulvio's tired face brightened. He was so easy to work. 

"Thank you," he said and leaned in for a kiss. She let him, even though her body become stiff as stone. Fortunately he turned his attention to the cake.

She took the libery of placing herself in the only other chair and watched him eat. It didn't take long for him to devour it. Afterwards he just leaned back and said nothing, satisfied. It wasn't possible to see the mark upon his cheek yet, particularly in the gloom of the evening, but when the morning came it would be. People would ask. Fulvio would say nothing. It surprised her that she knew that. 

"Do you... Do you know anything about that girl?" she asked. She made sure her voice was as indifferent as possible.

Fulvio looked at her for some seconds. "Why do you care about her?" he eventually said. 

Nora shrugged and poured him some of the cheap wine he had standing on his kitchen counter. She poured none for herself.

"I don't. It's just some rumors going around about her," she lied. 

A smile appeared on Fulvio's lips.

"About her and Basta? Good riddance. Cockerell says the reason she can't talk is because she is a witch and has sold her voice to some evil spirit."

Nora clenched her fist behind her back. 

"Why do you say that? Because she is pretty?"

That made Fulvio shrug. "That too, I guess, but it's no secret that she can read. A woman that can read? An abomination if you ask me." He gestured to her to pour him more wine, not even bothering to ask out loud. 

Just as good, because Nora was seething with a rising anger within. _A woman that can read? An abomination._ Her hands trembled as she readied the wine bottle and poured. An abomination. He had said that. Her _lover_. Her soul was filled with contempt for him and compassion for Resa.

It seemed like another life. Once she had lived in a large house with her family, her father, her siblings. Her room had been beautiful and filled with pretty things. Every day her family would gather in the living room and they would read together. Her father had a collection of books in his study room. She could almost see it, the large frames of each book clad in different colours, each with different illustrations showing places she could never go to, animals she would never see, people from the other side of the world she would never meet. It didn't matter when they read. Reading was travelling. 

It stinged in her eyes and soon bitter tears were running down her cheeks. The last thing she had seen of her home was the smoke rising from the ashes as the Blackjackets took her away. No more books. The awful thing was that Fulvio knew this. 

_Unless_. A thought appeared before her. _Unless I escape. With Resa._ They could find somewhere where there were no Bastas or Cockerells or Fulvios or Mortolas. 

Nora was shaking when she came back with Fulvio's drink. She poured directly over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original plan for this fic was to revolve it around Dustfinger's arrival (eventually), but sadly I am not feeling this fic as much as I did when I uploaded the Story of the Peppermint Leaves. Therefore I will end it here, for now at least.

**Author's Note:**

> I really want to write more LGBT+ content in 2020, so here's so kicking it off w my own oc lesbian<3
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Love to hear your thought:)


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